1. Technical Field of the Invention
The principles of the present invention are generally directed to a self-examination device, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a self-examination device that includes multiple enclosures having lubricating fluid at the finger locations to enhance effectiveness for detecting abnormalities in the human anatomy.
2. Description of Related Art
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women. Early detection of the cancer is one of the most important ways for treating the disease. Typically, breast cancer is detected when lumps formed in the breast are detected. The lumps can be detected by X-ray radio photography (mammography). However, women generally receive mammograms once a year after the age of forty. While the frequency of once a year for having a mammogram is beneficial, breast cancer not detected by a mammogram may develop rapidly between mammograms. A fast developing cancer may advance to a stage that requires more advanced treatment within the one-year period between mammograms.
Because having a mammogram at a frequency of one-year may not be often enough for some breast cancers, women are encouraged to perform self-examinations of their breasts to feel for lumps. Self-examinations of the breasts may result in a higher rate of early detection of lumps or other abnormality that is or may lead to breast cancer.
There are a number of techniques for a self-examination of the breast to be performed, including standing and lying while wet and dry. Generally, a self-examination in the bath and shower with water and soap is recommended, but creams may be used outside of the bath or shower. However, while these techniques are recommended, women often fail to perform the self-examinations or fail to perform the self-examination correctly for a variety of reasons. In the case where women simply fail to perform the breast self-examination, the leading reasons include embarrassment, lack of skill, forgetfulness, religious beliefs, etc. In the case of women not performing the breast self-examination correctly, the leading reasons include poor technique, dry skin, positioning, lack of sensitivity, etc.
To assist women in remembering to perform breast self-examinations and assisting to perform better quality and more thorough breast self-examinations, self-examination devices have been developed. These self-examination devices include pads and mittens.
A self-examination pad is typically configured as two sheets of material having a circular shape and sealed about the perimeter to form an enclosure having a lubricant contained or encapsulated therein. The size of the pad is typically six inches or more (i.e., about the size of a hand) in diameter. The sheets of materials are typically formed of soft, pliable, elastic, and smooth material. Elastomers, either natural or synthetic, are suitable for use as the sheets of material that have been deemed to satisfy the requirements for a self-examination device as understood in the art. The lubricant has traditionally been soapy water, silicon, or any other fluid that is capable of operating as a lubricant to enable the two sheets forming the pad to slide in relation to one another when being pressed together during the self-examination. As understood in the art, the pad is used by being pressed between the breast or other part of the human anatomy (e.g., testicle) and fingers. The sheet that is pressed against the skin remains fixed in place in relation to the skin while the sheet being pressed by the fingers remains fixed in relation to the fingers, but slides in relation to the other sheet, thereby making it easier for a person to feel for lumps in the breast, for example, rather than artifacts on the skin.
A self-examination mitten is generally constructed in a similar manner as the self-examination pad with the exception of having an added sheet of material connected to a pad to form a pocket or cavity so as to enable a person to insert a hand into the mitt to engage the hand. However, in both the case of the pad and mitt, the fluid contained in the enclosure tends to flow to the bottom of the enclosure (i.e., near a person's wrist) due to gravity, thereby making the self-examination devices more difficult to use because the lubricant flows to areas of the enclosure that are not being rubbed together during the self-examination.